In June 2001, author David McCullough spoke to an overflow crowd in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building. He was there to talk about one of our Founding Fathers - John Adams - as part of a series of events leading up to the 225th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. In vividly bringing to life Adams the patriot, the President, and the man, McCullough also gave tribute to the Charters of Freedom - the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

McCullough said he was honored to be "in the presence of the three great documents at the heart of all that we are and all that we hope to remain forever. . . . I feel deeply indebted to this magnificent institution where the life of our country is recorded in trust forever."

As McCullough so eloquently stated, the National Archives and Records Administration is a public trust on which our democracy depends. We allow people to see for themselves the workings of our unique government. We make transparent the story of the American people - our collective successes and triumphs as well as our blemishes and failures. All of the records we hold - from naturalization papers and military service records to land warrants and census rolls - are the records of our people, as essential to the functioning of our democracy as the Bill of Rights.

Without these records, we would not know or be able to understand our past. We would not be able to hold government officials accountable for their actions. We would not be able to claim our rights and entitlements. Without these records, we would no longer live in a democracy, for a society whose records are closed cannot be open, and a people who cannot document their rights cannot exercise them.

In this report you will find evidence of how we at the National Archives continue to ensure that we all have ready access to the records of our Government. For example, in 2001 we helped our country transition from one Administration to another. We began conservation treatment on the Charters of Freedom to ensure they will be available for many more generations of Americans to see. The National Archives Building is undergoing a major renovation, after which we will be able to showcase how the records of our people shape the history of our nation. We made important strides in our quest to find new ways to preserve electronic records far into the future, while at the same time providing our visitors the research tools and assistance they need to locate records today.

The work we do makes it
possible to document the
actions of our Government,
the rights of our citizens,
and the history of our nation.
Please keep this in mind
as you examine this report,
as it is our commitment to
these ideals that shapes
both our daily work and our
goals for the future. It
is what motivates us. And
it is what gives you a clear,
personal stake in our success.

JOHN W. CARLIN
Archivist of the United States

Introduction

What is the National Archives?

The National Archives and Records
Administration is a public
trust on which our democracy
depends. We enable people to
inspect for themselves the
record of what Government has
done. We enable officials and
agencies to review their actions
and help citizens hold them
accountable. We ensure continuing
access to essential evidence
that documents:

the rights of American citizens,

the actions of Federal officials,

the national experience.

To ensure ready access to essential evidence, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) establishes policies and procedures for managing U.S. Government records. We assist and train Federal agencies in documenting their activities, administering records management programs, scheduling records, and retiring non-current records to regional records services facilities for cost-effective storage. We appraise, accession, arrange, describe, preserve, and make available to the public the historically valuable records of the three branches of Government. We manage a nationwide system of Presidential libraries, records centers, and regional archives. We administer the Information Security Oversight Office and make grants to non-Federal institutions to support historical documentation through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. We publish the Federal Register, Statutes at Large, Government regulations, and Presidential and other public documents.

We serve a broad spectrum of American society. Genealogists and family historians; veterans and their authorized representatives; academics, scholars, historians, business and occupational researchers; publication and broadcast journalists; Congress, the Courts, the White House, and other public officials; Federal Government agencies and the individuals they serve; state and local government personnel; professional organizations and their members; students and teachers; and the general public - all seek answers from the records we preserve.

To be effective, we must determine what evidence is essential for documentation, ensure that Government creates such evidence, and make it easy for users to access that evidence regardless of where it is, or where they are, for as long as needed. We also must find technologies, techniques, and partners worldwide that can help improve service and hold down costs, and we must help staff members continuously expand their capability to make the changes necessary to realize the vision.

Our Mission:

NARA ENSURES, FOR THE CITIZEN AND THE PUBLIC SERVANT, FOR THE PRESIDENT AND THE CONGRESS AND THE COURTS, READY ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL EVIDENCE.

Our Strategic Goals:

One: Essential evidence will be created, identified, appropriately scheduled, and managed for as long as needed.

Two: Essential evidence will be easy to access regardless of where it is or where users are for as long as needed.

Three: All records will be preserved in an appropriate environment for use as long as needed.

Four: NARA's capabilities for making the changes necessary to realize our vision will continuously expand.

These goals and the strategies
to achieve them are detailed
in Ready Access to Essential
Evidence: The Strategic Plan
of the National Archives
and Records Administration,
1997-2007, updated and
reissued September 2000.
This annual performance report
is based on the goals, strategies,
and long-range performance
targets in our Strategic
Plan, and the specific objectives
in our FY 2001 Annual Performance
Plan. The following pages
detail our performance on
all our FY 2001 objectives.
Checked boxes precede those
we fully achieved. Those
we did not fully achieve
have open boxes with an explanation
below. We also included all
relevant performance results
and trend information. Supplemental
performance data for some
objectives is included in
Appendix
A. We received no aid
from nonfederal parties in
preparing this report.

Budget Resources. Following is a summary of the resources, by budget authority, we received to meet our FY 2001 objectives.

Operating Expenses

$202,862,000

Repairs/Restorations

$101,536,000

Grants

$6,436,000

Total Budget Authority

$310,834,000

Redemption of Debt

$6,084,000

Total Appropriation

$316,918,000

Total FTE

2,714

Performance Measurement.
We continue using four mechanisms
to measure actual performance:
(1) periodic management reviews,
(2) formal audits of operations,
(3) implementation and refinement
of the agency's performance
measurement system, and (4)
systematic sampling of measurement
system effectiveness. (Appendix
B provides summaries
of reviews, evaluations,
and audits conducted in FY
2001.) In FY 1999 we deployed
an agency-wide Performance
Measurement and Reporting
System (PMRS). This system
allowed us to define and
consistently measure data
critical to the analysis
of FY 1999 performance objectives.
During the past two years
we have continued to integrate
and expand the system so
that our strategic performance
is measured using more of
a balanced scorecard approach
for tracking cycle times,
quality, productivity, cost,
and customer satisfaction
for our products and services.

We reviewed customer feedback concerning our performance during FY 2001 and took action to respond to customer service needs. We developed this agency-wide report from detailed performance reports for FY 2001 at the office level and below. Taken together, the program evaluations, audits, measurement system, customer feedback, and office level plans and reports enabled us to identify program areas that needed attention, analysis, and possible re-engineering.

The work we have done on the performance measurement system has produced changes in some performance objectives to make them measurable or to clarify what is being measured. We continue to evaluate, improve, and make necessary adjustments to our performance measurement system in the course of our routine work. This report updates some of our FY 2000 statistics that were corrected as a result of these improvements. These on-going refinements indicate that this annual report, our annual plans, and our Strategic Plan are living documents and are an integral part of our operations.

We must succeed in reaching our goals because the National Archives and Records Administration is not an ordinary Federal agency. The records we preserve document the rights of American citizens, the actions of Federal officials, and the national experience. We serve not just today's citizens, but all who are yet to come. We must not only preserve documents already in our care, but also prepare to manage tomorrow's records in new and challenging forms. This report reflects our 2001 progress in making that a reality.

STRATEGIC GOAL 1: ESSENTIAL
EVIDENCE

ESSENTIAL EVIDENCE WILL BE
CREATED, IDENTIFIED, APPROPRIATELY
SCHEDULED, AND MANAGED FOR
AS LONG AS NEEDED.

We increased our partnership
agreements with Federal agencies
by 31 percent over last year,
in part because we added
10 more senior records analysts
to our team. However, the
records management training
we provide to Federal agency
staff declined by 29 percent
over last year. Many of our
FY 2000 targeted assistance
projects included extensive
tailored records management
training. This was not true
of as many projects in FY
2001, where work included
more management briefings
and site assessments. Another
reason for the drop in numbers
receiving records management
training was that we used
some of our senior records
analysts to support an important
initiative examining the
creation, maintenance, use,
and disposition of records
in Federal agencies (Target
1.3).

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

As we make targeted assistance
the basis of the way we do
records management, we expect
to see significant improvements
in the way Federal agencies
manage their records.

1.2 SCHEDULE NEW RECORDS

FY 2001 Objectives

Ensure 20 percent of approved new records schedule items cover records created within the last 2 years.

Install and test a records management application at NARA.

Results

We ensured that 20 percent of approved new records schedule items cover records created within the last 2 years.

We installed records management application hardware and software, and completed the systems test of the records management application.

Trend Data

FY 1999

FY 2000

FY 2001

Number of schedule items submitted by agencies.

4,199

8,090

3,224

Number of schedule items completed.

3,262

5,664

4,728

Number of new schedule items completed.

935

1,961

2,544

Number of new schedule items completed within 2 years of the records creation.

220

544

520

Percent of new schedule items completed within 2 years of the records creation.

23.52

27.74

20.44

Trend Analysis

Significantly fewer schedule
items were submitted by agencies
this year than last year.
However, last year was unusually
high because several agencies
turned in comprehensive schedules.
The number of new schedule
items we completed rose by
30 percent over FY 2000 and
172 percent over FY 1999.
We dropped off only slightly
(4 percent) in our progress
in completing new schedule
items within 2 years of
the records creation.
This overall positive trend
from FY 1999 to FY 2001 is
the result of process improvements
we made last year that yielded
increased productivity.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

We expect to be able to achieve
our target of completing
25 percent of new records
schedule items within 2 years
of the records creation.

1.3 CLOSE OUT SCHEDULE ITEMS

FY 2001 Objectives

Process records schedule items within a median time of 260 calendar days or less.

Complete study of the creation, maintenance, use, and disposition of records in Federal agencies.

Complete analysis of Federal agency business processes and the records they generate.

Results

We improved the overall cycle time for closing out records schedule items to a median time of 237 calendar days.

"With these tools and options, NARA will...ultimately improve the overall quality of records management in the Federal Government."

We completed a draft report for study of the creation, maintenance, use, and disposition of records in Federal agencies.

We analyzed Federal agency business processes and the records they generate for 11 agencies.

We closed out 14 percent of records schedule items within 120 calendar days of submission to NARA.

Explanation

We collected information on
the views and perceptions of
records management personnel,
Chief Information Officers,
General Counsels, Inspectors
General, and staff involved
in specific work processes
in 42 Federal agencies concerning
records creation, maintenance,
and use through focus groups,
interviews, and a web-based
survey. Because of the extensive
coordination required for this
project and some additional
analyses we deemed necessary
to conduct, we did not fully
complete our objective in FY
2001, and extended the work
into first quarter FY 2002.

We originally intended to analyze Federal agency business processes and the records they generate at 12 to 15 Federal agencies. However, only 11 agencies agreed to participate. At the end of the study we determined that a few important agency cultures and work processes were not adequately covered. We will complete three additional analyses in FY 2002.

Trend Data

FY 1999

FY 2000

FY 2001

Number of schedule items completed.

3,262

5,664

4,728

Number of records schedule items completed within 120 calendar days of submission to NARA.

469

1,229

659

Percent of records schedule items completed within 120 calendar days of submission to NARA.

14.37

21.69

13.93

Median time for records schedule items completed (in calendar days).

336.5

283

237

Trend Analysis

We significantly lowered the
cycle time for processing records
schedules from 283 calendar
days to 237 calendar days,
a 16 percent reduction from
last year. Overall, we have
been able to reduce the cycle
time by 30 percent since we
began tracking this data in
FY 1999. In FY 2001 the number
of records schedule items that
we completed within 120 calendar
days of submission to NARA
fell off by 46 percent. The
reason for this drop was that
many of the schedules we focused
on in FY 2000 were email and
word processing schedules that
were submitted in standard
formats, requiring shorter
review times. This created
an unusual spike in the numbers
in FY 2000, which in FY 2001
dropped back to a level more
consistent with FY 1999 progress.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

We have set our FY 2002 target
for closing out records schedules
at a median time of 240 calendar
days or less. However, we
are undertaking an effort
to reduce our oldest records
schedules - those that
are already more than 2 years
old. During this effort our
median time will significantly
increase because of the age
of the records schedules.

STRATEGIC GOAL 2: ACCESS

ESSENTIAL EVIDENCE WILL BE
EASY TO ACCESS REGARDLESS OF
WHERE IT IS OR WHERE USERS
ARE FOR AS LONG AS NEEDED.

Long Range Performance Targets

2.1. By 2007, access to records and services and customer satisfaction levels meet or exceed NARA's published standards.

2.2. By 2007, 70 percent of NARA services are available online.

2.3. By 2007, 95 percent of NARA archival holdings are described at the series or collection level in an online catalog.

2.4. By 2003, ISOO will develop a uniform sampling system for collecting information about classification activity within the executive branch.

2.5. By 2004, NARA will review and declassify 100 percent of archival holdings more than 25 years old for which NARA has been granted declassification authority and responsibility for their review by the originating agency.

2.6. By 2007, 10 percent of records of a two-term President or 15 percent of records for a one-term President are open and available for research at the end of the 5-year post-Presidential period specified in the Presidential Records Act.

2.7. By 2007, 90 percent of all NHPRC-assisted projects produce results promised in grant applications approved by the Commission.

We completed microfilm duplication of 100 percent of the 1930 census and distributed to NARA facilities and microfilm rental program.

We procured and installed the furniture and equipment for the April 1, 2002, census opening.

Explanation

Although we did complete FOIA
requests for NARA operational
records and Federal archival
records within the 20-day time
period 82 percent of the time,
we experienced an overall performance
gap in our FOIA response time.
Most of our FOIA requests (83
percent) are for veterans'
records at the National Personnel
Records Center in St. Louis.
Only 22 percent of these requests
were answered within 20 working
days. We also fell short on
our goal of answering requests
for military service records
within 10 days. Service backlogs
at the center are what prompted
us to undertake a Business
Process Reengineering project
there. We are in process of
implementing several key initiatives
that will improve our response
time and expect to see faster
processing of FOIA requests
and military service requests
as a result.

While we fell short of achieving our objective of furnishing items requested in our research rooms within 1 hour of request or of the scheduled pull time, we made significant progress over last year, furnishing 21 percent more items within the requested time.

Trend Data

FY 1999

FY 2000

FY 2001

Percent of written requests answered within 10 working days.

88.56

91.92

93.03

Percent of Freedom of Information Act requests completed within 20 working days.

34.58

26.86

27.56

Percent of requests for military service records at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis answered within 10 working days.

7.07

2.88

4.21

Percent of items requested in our research rooms furnished within 1 hour of request or scheduled pull time.

94.43

89.07

93.24

Percent of customers with appointments for whom records are waiting at the appointed time.

99.69

99.39

99.64

Percent of Federal agency reference requests in Federal records centers that are ready when promised to the customer.

81.12

78.84

92.69

Percent of records center shipments to Federal agencies are the records they requested.

We received about 900 fewer
FOIA requests in FY 2001 than
we did in FY 2000, and we completed
about 1,100 fewer than last
year. We are beginning to see
some improvements due to an
ongoing Business Process Reengineering
project at the National Personnel
Records Center, as shown by
our performance on FOIA requests
completed within 20 working
days improving 11 percent since
last year. We have also made
significant progress in our
backlog of unanswered requests.

Demand for items in our research rooms has increased by 100 percent since FY 1999. We furnished 15.1 percent more requests in FY 2001 than last year. Despite a drop off in visitors at our National Archives Building after September 11, 2001, overall we saw the number of visitors to our research rooms increase slightly throughout the year.

On the measure to provide routine Federal agency reference requests to records center activities in regional records services facilities within 24 hours or when requested, process changes and better-clarified procedures that we implemented last year yielded significantly better performance this year. Also, some of our FY 2000 resources went to providing records recovery services for several thousand cubic feet of wet records after a fire at the Washington National Records Center. This additional work contributed to our not meeting our target last year. This year our workload increased 61 percent over last year. Despite this increase, we were able to exceed our target this year.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

While we do not expect to
meet our FOIA target or our
military service requests
target in FY 2002, with continued
business process improvements
at the National Personnel
Records Center, we expect
to see significant improvement
in our processing time and
reduction in our backlog
of requests over the next
two to three years.

We expect to see continued growth in the number of visitors to our research rooms, particularly with the release of the 1930 census on April 1, 2002. While we expect to see growth in the number of records requested in our research rooms, we are working hard to ensure sufficient staffing to meet these demands and to fully achieve our goal of providing 95 percent of these requests within 1 hour of request or of the scheduled pull time. We have also improved our data collection method for requests in our archival research rooms, moving from a random sampling method to automated tracking of actual data in FY 2002. This change will improve the accuracy of our data. Also, FY 2002 will be the first year that FOIA cycle time data will be based on actual performance, rather than estimated cycle times, improving the accuracy of our FOIA data.

2.2 ONLINE SERVICES

FY 2001 Objective

Determine the measurement methodology and establish the baseline for the percentage of NARA services available online.

Results

Preliminary measurement methodology developed and baseline for NARA services available online proposed.

Explanation

We developed a new methodology
to measure the number of
NARA services that are available
online to our customers regardless
of their location. We established
a baseline of services and
determined the numbers that
are currently online. This
metric was developed in coordination
with our Government Paperwork
Elimination Act (GPEA) plan,
and will reflect the products
that are deployed under GPEA.
While we did not meet our
internal goal for completing
the development of this metric
by the end of FY 2001, we
are on track for implementing
the metric with our first
quarter FY 2002 data as planned.

Trend Data

FY 1999

FY 2000

FY 2001

Public user sessions on NARA's web site (in thousands)

7,271.8

10,096.2

16,105.9

Percent of NARA services available online.

--

--

24

Trend Analysis

We continue to see growth
in the use of our web site.
These numbers will continue
to increase as more information
and services are made available
electronically and also as
technology reaches more people.

Describe 10 percent of our nationwide archival holdings in the Archival Research Catalog.

Provide online access to select accessioned electronic records.

Install computer terminals capable of accessing the Archival Research Catalog in 100 percent of our research rooms nationwide.

Results

We described 13 percent of our nationwide archival holdings in an online catalog.

"NAIL is a marvelous resource, for which you are to be highly commended."

We achieved online access to select accessioned data files; completed development of a prototype Access to Archival Databases system; and awarded a pilot and production contract.

We developed the policy for installation and use of computer terminals in NARA research rooms.

Explanation

We made steady progress in
moving toward our goal of development
of a new Archival Research
Catalog (ARC). We did not approve
the catalog for final testing
because customization of the
commercial software, a necessary
precursor to final testing,
was not completed. Insufficient
resources, combined with changing
requirements for the software
customization and web interface,
contributed to the delays.
We have restructured the ARC
schedule and added the necessary
resources to complete the project.

We did not complete installation of computer terminals in all of our research rooms because not all of the rooms were outfitted with the technical and infrastructure requirements necessary to provide connections to the Internet. Also, we needed to resolve issues regarding approved uses of the computers by the public (e.g., email and Internet access), and network security requirements needed to be finalized.

Trend Data

FY 1999

FY 2000

FY 2001

Percent of nationwide archival holdings described in an online catalog.

8.4

13.9

13.2

Cubic feet of archival holdings

2,834,522

2,767,668

2,915,133

Cubic feet of archival holdings described in an online catalog.

236,756

385,909

385,909

Trend Analysis

No additional holdings were
described in the online catalog
during FY 2001. The numbers
reflect the percentage already
described in the prototype
catalog as a proportion of
our overall holdings. The
percentage online decreased
because our holdings increased.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

Development of ARC will be
completed in FY 2002 and
all descriptions will be
migrated to the new system.
The catalog will be publicly
available by the end of the
year. We will also install
computer terminals capable
of accessing ARC and other
Internet research sites in
all of our public research
rooms nationwide.

Issues related to reporting
security classification program
data contained in electronic
systems complicated the work
planned for defining a sampling
method resulting in data
of uniform credibility for
all agencies that sample
their classification activity.
Program reviews were completed
at the Department of State,
Office of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, and the Department
of the Treasury. Two other
planned reviews were postponed
until FY 2002 when the remainder
of the 12 new staff members
for the Information Security
Oversight Office (ISOO) are
expected to be on board.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

We expect to redefine the
parameters of the plan to
identify a sampling method
resulting in data of uniform
credibility for all agencies
that sample their classification
activity. We will complete
the ISOO reorganization,
hiring of new staff (including
the ISOO director), and undertake
planned program reviews.

2.5 DECLASSIFICATION

FY 2001 Objectives

Review 50 percent of Federal records and 25 percent of Presidential materials more than 25 years old in NARA's custody that are not being reviewed by the originating agency and for which NARA has declassification authority.

Scan 300,000 pages of Presidential archival materials eligible for declassification review as part of the Remote Archives Capture project.

Results

We reviewed 9 percent of Federal records in our custody more than 25 years old that were not being reviewed by the originating agency and for which we had declassification authority.

We reviewed 21 percent of Presidential materials in our custody more than 25 years old that were not being reviewed by the originating agency and for which we had declassification authority.

We scanned 321,800 pages of Presidential materials eligible for declassification review as part of the Remote Archives Capture project.

Explanation

We completed a wall-to-wall
inventory of Federal classified
stacks to set a new baseline
for the universe of Federal
classified records. Removing
duplicate and withdrawn records
reduced our Federal backlog
count significantly. However,
the Federal records we did
review in FY 2001 were exclusively
intelligence records, which
are much slower to review
because of the subject and
because of the large number
of withdrawals. Because we
are limited to a page-by-page
review, we will continue
to show much slower progress
than we did when Executive
Order 12958 first went into
effect.

We fell slightly short of reaching our target of reviewing 25 percent of the Presidential materials backlog because of several staffing shortfalls. Because the work requires highly trained, security-cleared individuals, staff vacancies were difficult to fill.

We corrected some of our FY 2000 Presidential records data this year after we discovered that we were inadvertently including records in the count for which we did not have declassification authority. Federal records were unaffected by this correction.

We installed a new database management system for tracking withdrawn items with scanning and storage capabilities. This has improved our internal ability to track information about our classified and declassified records, allowing us to electronically scan requested documents, input data about the documents, redact documents, and provide redacted copies of scanned documents to researchers.

Trend Data

FY 1999

FY 2000

FY 2001

Backlog of Federal records at start of year (in thousands)

20,000.0

52,864.2

25,029.0

Annual percentage of Federal records NARA reviewed that are more than 25 years old for which NARA has declassification authority.

52

15

9

Backlog of Presidential materials at start of year (in thousands)

1,500.0

1,978.4

1,562.4

Annual percentage of Presidential records NARA reviewed that are more than 25 years old for which NARA has declassification authority.

48

21

21

Annual number of Federal pages reviewed (in thousands)

11,030.6

8,051.5

2,129.0

Annual number of Federal pages declassified (in thousands)

8,466.8

3,697.3

806.5

Annual number of Presidential pages reviewed (in thousands)

713.0

416.0

322.0

Annual number of Presidential pages declassified (in thousands)

304.8

291.0

218.8

Annual number of Presidential pages scanned.

351.2

160.0

321.8

Annual number of Presidential pages released.

291.1

285.1

206.8

Trend Analysis

The number of Federal records
we were able to review dropped
by 80 percent since FY 1999,
most of that drop (74 percent)
occurring this year. The
reason that most of the drop
occurred this year is because
we worked exclusively on
intelligence records, which
required significantly more
time to review. Likewise,
the proportion of Federal
pages reviewed to the number
we declassified dropped from
77 percent in FY 1999 to
38 percent in FY 2001. This
is directly attributable
to the high sensitivity of
the records we were reviewing
in FY 2001. We expect this
negative trend to continue
as NARA and equity-holding
agencies re-assess records
in the post-September 11
environment.

The number of Presidential pages we were able to review dropped off by 55 percent since FY 1999, about half of that drop occurring in FY 2001. This was mostly because of some staffing shortfalls that we are working to correct. Still, we declassified proportionally more of what we reviewed, from 43 percent in FY 1999 to 67 percent in FY 2001. We also increased by 101 percent the number of Presidential pages that we scanned as part of the Remote Archives Capture project, specifically for Ford, Carter, and Reagan Library records.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

We will continue our partnerships
with several agencies that
are providing declassification
support, however we will
not meet our FY 2002 targets.
We expect to review and declassify
fewer pages in FY 2002 because
of the need to reassess open
records in response to the
war on terrorism.

2.6 PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS

FY 2001 Objective

Prepare, facilitate, and gather inventories for 33 percent of the incumbent Presidential and Vice Presidential records and artifacts to be transferred to NARA.

Process 1 percent of the Presidential records for opening January 20, 2006.

Results

We prepared or acquired inventories for 40 percent of the Presidential and Vice Presidential records and artifacts in the custody of the White House.

We transferred 100 percent of Clinton Administration Presidential and Vice Presidential records and artifacts to NARA.

We processed 1 percent of the Presidential records for opening January 20, 2006.

Explanation and FY 2002
Performance Plan

We completed item level inventories
for 100 percent of the artifacts
in the Clinton Presidential
collection. These items account
for 40 percent of the total
record and artifact collection
for this administration.
We processed 290 cubic feet
(1 percent) out of 28,925
cubic feet of textual Clinton
Presidential records. Future
progress in processing and
inventorying the records
may be hindered by an unusually
large number of special access
requests or subpoenas for
the records of the Clinton
Administration.

2.7 NHPRC GRANTS

FY 2001 Objective

Produce results promised in grant applications approved by the Commission for 84 percent of all NHPRC-assisted projects.

Results

"Because of an NHPRC regrant, on September 11 we [NY State Archives staff] were able to quickly identify the 72 historical records repositories below 14th Street in Manhattan and to immediately send teams. . .to provide assistance."

We produced the results promised in grant applications approved by the Commission for 91 percent of NHPRC-assisted projects.

Trend Data

FY 1999

FY 2000

FY 2001

Number of NHPRC-assisted projects completed.

100

67

115

Number of NHPRC-assisted projects that produced the results promised.

89

63

105

Percent of NHPRC-assisted projects that produced the results promised.

89.0

94.0

91.3

Trend Analysis We completed 72 percent more grants this year than last year. The percent of projects producing the results promised fell off slightly from last year. This was due to our tightening the metric criteria so that projects were judged successful if they met 70 percent or more of their criteria.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation The types
of grants we fund may influence
the results. Certain grants,
such as research and development
grants, have a higher risk
of not achieving their intended
results. If the number of
grants in these areas increases,
as the Commission's priorities
encourage, then a steady
or low percentage of successful
grants may be a justifiable
target. We need to see what
trends develop in the data
over the next few years to
determine if our target levels
are realistic and whether
our measurement methodology
is meaningful.

STRATEGIC GOAL 3: SPACE
AND PRESERVATION

ALL RECORDS WILL BE PRESERVED
IN APPROPRIATE SPACE FOR USE
AS LONG AS NEEDED.

Long RangePerformance Targets

3.1. By 2007, 90 percent of NARA holdings are in appropriate space.

3.2. By 2007, 50 percent of NARA's at-risk archival holdings are appropriately treated or are housed so as to retard further deterioration.

3.3. By 2007, 97 percent of NARA's electronic holdings are preserved and accessible, regardless of their original format.

FY 2001 Resources Available to Meet This Goal: $172,224,000; 351 FTE

3.1 HOLDINGS IN APPROPRIATE SPACE

FY 2001 Objectives

Complete final design for the renovation of the National Archives Building.

Complete move of archival records from the Washington National Records Center to the National Archives at College Park.

Complete two pre-renovation construction projects in the National Archives Building.

Award National Archives Building renovation construction contract.

Complete fabrication of seven encasements (including two spare encasements) for the Charters of Freedom.

Re-encase page three of the Constitution.

Complete design for new Southeast Regional Archives.

Move records from White House to temporary facility for Clinton Presidential Materials Project.

Complete construction at the Truman Library.

Complete design for museum renovations at the Eisenhower Library.

Complete design for Roosevelt Library visitor center.

Results

We completed the final design for the renovation of the National Archives Building.

We completed the move of archival records from the Washington National Records Center to the National Archives at College Park.

We completed two pre-renovation construction projects in the National Archives Building:

-- Construction of moat offices.
-- Demolition of shelving and steel decks on six floors.

We awarded a construction contract for the renovation of the National Archives Building.

"We are enshrining these documents for future ages..."

We completed fabrication of seven encasements.

We re-encased page three of the Constitution.

We prepared a draft environmental assessment for Southeast Regional Archives and completed the 35 percent design.

We moved records from the White House to a temporary facility for Clinton Presidential Materials Project.

"A wonderful renovation and a powerful history lesson in these exhibits."

We completed construction at the Truman Library.

We completed the design for museum renovations at the Eisenhower Library.

We completed the design for the Roosevelt Library visitor center.

Explanation and FY 2002
Performance Plan Evaluation

We continued negotiations
with the State of Georgia
and Clayton College and State
University for a new Southeast
regional archives facility.
Decisions made included how
to best use the entire site,
the location of the NARA
building, and the final configuration
of the building. Those negotiations
were finally completed in
October 2001, but because
the negotiations took longer
than planned, we were only
able to complete a 35 percent
design for the facility.
The 100 percent design will
be completed and we expect
to award a construction contract
for the facility in FY 2002.
We undertook an environmental
assessment and expect the
final report in FY 2002.

3.2 PRESERVATION OF AT-RISK HOLDINGS

FY 2001 Objectives

Appropriately treat or house 30 percent of NARA's at-risk archival holdings so as to retard further deterioration.

Transfer all remaining acetate-based records in the Washington, DC, area to cold storage.

Complete duplication of Air Force Flight Records and prepare 1,000 cubic feet of Final Pay Vouchers & Payrolls for a reformatting contract at the National Personnel Records Center.

Results

We performed required preservation action on 32 percent of identified at-risk previously accessioned Federal records in the Washington, DC, area.

We transferred our remaining acetate-based records in the Washington, DC, area to cold storage.

We hired 15 preservation staff for the National Personnel Records Center.

We completed duplication of 14,500 reels of Air Force Flight Records microfilm, and we prepared 267 cubic feet of Final Pay Vouchers and Payrolls for a reformatting contract at the National Personnel Records Center.

Explanation

While we successfully completed
duplication of 14,500 reels
of Air Force Flight Records
microfilm, we were unable to
reach our goal to prepare 1,000
cubic feet of Final Pay Vouchers
and Payrolls for a reformatting
contract. Contributing factors
included delays in the hiring
process to fully staff the
preservation team and a number
of unanticipated research and
arrangement tasks that had
to be incorporated into the
holdings maintenance and document
preparation procedures. This
occurred because the records
were in worse condition than
our initial assessments indicated.

Trend Data

FY 1999

FY 2000

FY 2001

Start of year backlog (cubic feet).

161,478

156,507

167,154

Number of records treated this year (cubic feet).

4,971

35,133

26,403

Percent of cumulative backlog treated this year.

3.1

22.4

15.8

Total percent of cumulative backlog ever treated.

3.1

24.8

32.1

Trend Analysis

We preserved an additional
7 percent of identified at-risk
previously accessioned records,
bringing the percent of records
treated to 32 percent. We
treated 53 percent of those
records (14,079 cubic feet)
by putting them in cold storage.
Excluding cold storage records,
we treated about 11,700 cubic
feet by other preservation
methods, slightly less than
we treated last year. This
drop in our rate of preservation
was anticipated last year,
and we expect to see it slow
further in FY 2002 as preservation
methods other than cold storage
are employed. The two largest
groups of records worked
on in FY 2001 were Navy deck
logs from 1801 to 1915, and
patent case files of the
Patent and Trademark Office.
Work also continued on Holocaust/World
War II era records identified
as high use and at-risk by
the NARA members of the Nazi
War Crimes and Japanese Imperial
Government Records Interagency
Working Group.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

We expect that because of
the condition of Final Pay
Vouchers and Payrolls records,
the work to prepare these
for a reformatting contract
will require either additional
time or resources to complete.
We plan to award a contract
for reformatting these records
in FY 2002.

3.3 PRESERVATION OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS

FY 2001 Objective

Preserve and make accessible 40 percent of electronic records in NARA holdings, regardless of their original format.

Preserve and make accessible 100 percent of Bush and Reagan electronic holdings, regardless of their original format.

Complete concept of operations and draft requirements for the Electronic Records Archives.

Results

We preserved and made accessible 97 percent of NARA's electronic holdings, regardless of their original format.

We completed analysis of requirements and achieved the capability to preserve raster and vector files from geographic information systems.

GAO performed a risk assessment of the Electronic Records Archives program.

We managed and preserved 99 percent of Bush and Reagan electronic records.

We accessioned and preserved 3 terabytes of data from Federal agency web site "snapshots."

Explanation

We fell just short of reaching
our 100 percent target of
preserving and making accessible
all Bush and Reagan electronic
holdings. The remaining 29,000
logical data records will
be completed shortly. A logical
data record is a set of data
processed as a unit by a
computer system or application,
independent of its physical
environment. An example would
be a word processing document,
an email message, a row in
a table in a relational database,
etc.

At the request of the House
of Representatives, the General
Accounting Office (GAO) is
performing a program-level
risk identification and assessment
of the Electronic Records
Archives (ERA) program, with
particular focus on NARA's
program management capabilities
and interdependencies across
program functional areas,
activities, and stakeholder
organizations (findings are
expected in FY 2002). We
moved our activities to complete
a concept of operations and
draft requirements for ERA
into FY 2002, because of
the need to focus on developing
the infrastructure needed
to manage a program of this
size and complexity.

Trend Data

FY 2001

Number of logical data records in NARA's custody.

2,344,502,905

Number logical data records managed and preserved.

2,271,747,425

Number of Bush and Reagan logical data records.

2,191,872

Number of Bush and Reagan logical data records managed and preserved.

2,162,967

Percent of NARA's electronic holdings preserved and accessible, regardless of their original format.

98.7

Trend Analysis

There is no comparable data
available in FY 2000 because
we changed the definition
of this metric. In previous
years we counted "electronic
files." Now we count
"logical data records."
This change enables us to
compare different types of
electronic records and will
provide a more reliable standard
of measurement.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

Due to the huge influx of
electronic records expected
in FY 2002 and future years,
we have lowered our targets
to reflect our projected
performance against a rapidly
expanding universe.

STRATEGIC GOAL 4: INFRASTRUCTURE

NARA'S CAPABILITIES FOR MAKING
CHANGES NECESSARY TO REALIZE
OUR VISION WILL CONTINUOUSLY
EXPAND.

Long Range Performance Targets

4.1. By 2003, 100 percent of employee performance plans and 100 percent of staff development plans are linked to strategic outcomes.

4.2. By 2007, the percentages of NARA employees in underrepresented groups match their respective availability levels in the Civilian Labor Force.

4.3. By 2007, NARA will accept 100 percent of the legal documents submitted electronically for publication in the Federal Register.

4.4. By 2007, NARANET will have a 95-percent-effective computer and communications infrastructure.

FY 2001 Resources Available to Meet This Goal: Goal 4 supports goals 1 through 3. Resources available are included in the totals for those goals.

4.1 PERFORMANCE AND DEVELOPMENT PLANS

FY 2001 Objectives

Issue written guidance to managers on linking employee performance plans to strategic outcomes.

We implemented our methodology
for linking each employee's
performance plan to NARA's
Strategic Plan. We issued
guidance and trained managers
and supervisors. At 48 percent,
we fell slightly short of
our goal of linking 50 percent
of employee performance plans.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

We anticipate meeting our
goal of linking all performance
plans with our Strategic
Plan by the end of FY 2002.
We will begin to roll out
a new process for creating
individual development plans
for all employees and linking
those plans to strategic
outcomes in FY 2002.

Ensure the percentages of NARA employees in underrepresented groups match 50 percent of their respective availability levels in the Civilian Labor Force.

Increase the percentage of people in underrepresented groups in pools of applicants from which to select for positions in Grades 13 and above, over the percentage in FY 2000.

Results

We provided diversity training to 27 percent of NARA managers and employees.

We employed people in underrepresented groups so that our percentages matched at least 50 percent of the national averages in 5 out of 6 underrepresented groups.

We increased the percentage of people in underrepresented groups in pools of applicants for positions at Grades 13 and above from 63 percent to 74 percent.

Explanation

The increased number of staff
who have received diversity
training reflects staff who
were trained in the last
quarter of FY 2000 but missed
the cut-off date for inclusion
in our performance measurement
reporting system. No additional
diversity training occurred
in FY 2001. We changed our
methodology for delivering
diversity training to staff,
and will resume training
in FY 2002.

We met our objective of employing people in underrepresented groups for 5 out of 6 underrepresented groups. However, the lack of well-qualified applicants from certain underrepresented groups continues to be a problem (see detailed data in Appendix A).

A problem we have with measuring applicants from underrepresented groups is that we must rely on each applicant's voluntary self-identification as a member of an underrepresented group on NARA's Applicant Background Survey. Some applicants choose not to identify their backgrounds or not to return the survey forms. We have increased our efforts this year to collect the Applicant Background Survey from every applicant. Also, we have increased our use of professional organizations' web sites to post vacancies, and this increased exposure may be helping to bring in more diverse applicants.

Number of pools for positions in Grades 13 and above that had self-identified applicants in protected classes.

10

15

45

Percent of applicant pools for positions at Grades 13 and above that contain people in underrepresented groups.

47.1

62.5

75.0

Trend Analysis

While we are getting more
applicants from underrepresented
groups in our applicant pools
than in previous years, we
are still not able to meet
our target for Hispanic employees.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

NARA is a member of the Office
of Personnel Management's
newly established Interagency
Task Force, composed of agency
officials from each major
Federal department and independent
agency. This task force was
established to help provide
agencies with the framework
necessary for implementing
plans to improve the representation
of Hispanics. The task force
meets semi-annually to cover
topics such as reviewing
best practices in strategic
human resources management
planning, providing advice
on increasing Hispanic community
involvement, and discussing
the elimination of barriers
to employment for Hispanics.
It is NARA's intent to draw
ideas and plans from these
meetings that will address
solutions to this gap in
employment.

We will employ a new delivery system for diversity training that will improve attendance, and we expect to have 50 percent of NARA's employees trained in diversity awareness by the end of FY 2002. We have also improved our data collection system for measuring applicants in underrepresented groups, which will help ensure that we are able to collect a more complete set of data next year.

4.3 FEDERAL REGISTER PRODUCTION

FY 2001 Objectives

Complete business process improvement (BPI) study and cost estimates for the implementation of an electronic editing and publishing system.

Results

We completed the BPI study, and design and cost estimates for an electronic editing and publishing system were delivered.

"Real-time, online access to the Federal Register. . . one of the most democratic, citizen-empowering things to have happened in recent years."

We prepared a statement of work to purchase, install, and test an electronic editing and publishing system.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

We expect to be fully successful
in our efforts to purchase,
install, and begin testing
an electronic editing and
publishing system.

4.4 COMPUTERS AND COMMUNICATIONS

FY 2001 Objectives

Increase overall performance to 88 percent effectiveness by making substantial improvements in the network infrastructure.

Results

We increased our overall network effectiveness to 96.5 percent.

Trend Data

FY 2000

FY 2001

Percent of overall NARANET effectiveness

94

96.5

--Percent of network availability

99.9

99.9

--Percent of user support services effectiveness

92.0

92.2

--Percent of service delivery to the desktop effectiveness

90.1

97.5

Trend Analysis

We have consistently exceeded
our annual targets.

FY 2002 Performance Plan
Evaluation

We realize that to maintain
our performance levels for
these services we must continuously
improve. To that end we must
continue to keep hardware
and software up to date,
keep pace with increased
calls for user support services
by effectively managing our
user support tools and processes,
and improve our infrastructure
by installing new servers
and fiber optic cabling.
With these efforts, we expect
the overall network effectiveness
of NARANET to remain high.
In addition, we are making
a substantial upgrade to
our nationwide telephone
system, which will facilitate
NARA communications across
the country.

Appendix A: Outputs

This appendix contains supplemental
output information on selected
objectives in this report.
Objectives not listed below
have no significant supplemental
data.

2.1 Meet or exceed NARA's published standards for access to records and services.

Trend Data

FY 1999

FY 2000

FY 2001

Archival written requests answered.

105,422

107,370

113,990

Archival written requests answered within 10 working days.

93,365

98,696

106,051

Military records requests answered.

1,248,652

1,150,436

1,085,319

Military records requests answered within 10 working days.

88,321

32,105

49,399

Items furnished in our research rooms.

523,810

910,744

1,048,582

Items furnished within one hour of the request or scheduled pull time.

494,634

811,265

977,775

Federal agency customers with appointments.

32,535

38,342

41,530

Federal agency customers with appointments who have records waiting at requested time.

4.2 Employ and recruit percentages of people in underrepresented groups so that NARA's percentages match 50 percent of the Civilian Labor Force percentages of people in underrepresented groups.The categories where we met or exceeded the objective are checked below. Our target for employing people with targeted disabilities was 1.5 percent. The numbers in the table below are based on permanent employees only.

Number of Employees By
Underrepresented Group

FY 1999 Actual (Percent)

FY 2000 Actual (Percent)

FY 2001 Actual (Percent)

FY 2001 Target (Percent)

Civilian Labor Force Availability (Percent)*

1,488 Women

36.5

38.8

54.9

22.9

45.7

875 Black

8.3

8.6

32.3

5.2

10.3

41 Hispanic

0.5

0.5

1.5

4.1

8.1

60 Asian American/Pacific Islander

0.7

0.7

2.2

1.4

2.8

10 American Indian/Alaskan Native

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.3

0.6

54 Targeted Disabilities

N/A

N/A

2.0

1.5

N/A

* Civilian Labor Force
availability is based on
census data. At the time
NARA set its targets for
this metric, the CLF rates
were still based on 1990
census data. We will revise
our targets when new CLF
data is available from the
2000 census.

The Inspector General reviewed NARA's records disposal and concurrence process and made 11 recommendations to the Office of Regional Records Services for improving this process. All recommendations are scheduled to be completed in FY 2002.

Strategic Goal 2: Access

General Accounting Office, GAO-01-599, National Personnel Records Center: Plan Needed to Show How Timeliness Goal Will be Achieved, May 2001.

GAO conducted a review of NARA's actions to improve response time to veterans' requests for records and recommended that NARA develop a plan to show what is needed to meet its FY 2005 goal.

NARA developed a detailed plan for meeting our FY 2005 goal to improve our response time to veterans' requests for records in response to GAO-01-599. The plan describes 9 initiatives that are being implemented between 2001 and 2004.

The OIG found that NARA is taking necessary actions to protect the privacy of individuals who access NARA web sites, but that our web privacy policies and practices needed improvements in some areas. The OIG made 6 recommendations. Two are completed, and the remainder are scheduled to be completed in FY 2002.

Office of Inspector General, Audit Memorandum 01-08, Review of Billing System for the Reimbursable Program, March 29, 2001.

The OIG conducted a review of NARA's billing system for the records center's reimbursable program. They reviewed cost data, audit trails and documentation of billing transactions, and billing policies and procedures. They determined that these data were accurate and no recommendations were made.

The Inspector General conducted a review of NARA's information system security program and made 4 recommendations to the Office of Human Resources and Information Services for developing an entity-wide systems security program. All recommendations are scheduled to be completed in FY 2002.

In compliance with the FAIR Act, NARA compiled information about the activities performed by each office and submitted it to OMB and the Congress. OMB approved the inventory and published a notice of availability in the Federal Register on September 27, 2001 . NARA made the inventory available to the public as required for 30 days via our website, fax-on-demand, mail, email, and fax. We received no challenges to the inventory. The Archivist reviewed the inventory and decided that of the 31 items on the inventory, 21 will be retained in-house. Of the 10 remaining functions, 5 are undergoing significant changes in their work processes and will be reassessed when these changes are completed, and 5 are subject to cost comparison or direct conversion requirements of A-76. One activity was reviewed during FY 2001 and a determination was made to retain this in-house.

Multi-Goal Evaluations

Office of the Inspector General, OIG Report 01-02, Evaluation of the Accuracy of NARA's Performance Measurement Data, March 2, 2001.

The Inspector General reviewed 10 out of 31 numeric performance objectives in NARA's FY 2000 Annual Performance Plan and commended NARA for the improvements made in the quality and reliability of the data since the last evaluation. The Inspector General also made 2 recommendations to improve specific metric reliability. NARA implemented these recommendations during FY 2001.

Office of the Inspector General, OIG Memorandum 01-16, Evaluation of NARA's Management Control Program for Fiscal Year 2000, September 13, 2001.

The Inspector General reviewed NARA assurance statements and related management control documents and determined that NARA complied with the intentions of the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA), OMB Circular A-123, and OMB Circular A-127. No material weakness in the management control program for FY 2000 were found, and no recommendations were made.

Office of Presidential Libraries, Program Review, April 17-20, 2001.

The office conducted a program review at the George Bush Library in College Station, Texas. Twenty-one recommendations were made for improvements, and deadlines were given for responding. All but one item for which a response was due on or before September 30, 2001, have been completed or addressed. The remaining item will be completed in FY 2002.

Office of Presidential Libraries, Program Review, June 12-15, 2001.

The office conducted a program review at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts. Forty-one recommendations were made for improvements, and deadlines were given for responding. All items for which a response was due on or before September 30, 2001, have been completed or addressed.

Office of Presidential Libraries, Program Review, June 27-29, 2001.

The office conducted a program review at the Clinton Presidential Materials Project in Little Rock, Arkansas. Fifteen recommendations were made for improvement, and deadlines were given for responding. Of these items, none required a response on or before September 30, 2001.

Office of Presidential Libraries, Program Review, July 1-September 30, 2001.

The office conducted a program review at the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff in College Park, Maryland. Twenty recommendations were made for improvement, and deadlines were given for responding. Of these items, none required a response on or before September 30, 2001.

Office of Presidential Libraries, Program Review, July 17-20, 2001.

The office conducted a program review at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas. Fourteen recommendations were made for improvement, and deadlines were given for responding. All items for which a response was due on or before September 30, 2001, have been completed or addressed.

For more information about
these reports, contact
the Policy and Communications
Staff on 301-837-1850 or
by email at vision@nara.gov.